I have some very sad news...

I'm sure many of you are aware of the health problems my father has had. For those who are new, my dad has been suffering from Parkinson's disease, brought on (in my opinion) from some very heavy drinking he had done for many years. He worked in the steel mills of my hometown, Granite City, IL (near St. Louis), for some 40 years.

The culture there back in the 1960s and 70 when I was growing up was simple: You worked hard in the mills during the day (or whenever your shift was) and then drank harder afterwards. No one questioned it back then. In addition (at least I've now thought of), the air in the mill (and in Granite City itself) wasn't particularly clean; in fact, Granite City pointed to the fact (with pride, even) that the dirtiest air in the state was located there.

Today, I am sad to report, my dad, George Feeney, died at 5.30 am Central time of complications of Parkinson's disease aged 79 in the nursing home he was a patient at in Collinsville, IL. To my knowledge, he went peacefully.

I found out about it about 8.30 this morning when I woke up and saw a message from my sister on Facebook asking me to call. Since I have no phone service at this time (both landline and cellular because of some monetary problems), I had to go across the way to a neighbor's apartment to borrow his phone. I called her and that's when she told me dad had died.

Funeral arrangements are pending at this time, but I do know he wanted to be cremated; both my brother and I will get a chance to see him before the cremation takes place, time and date still to be determined. I imagine it will be in the next day or two. There will be a private graveside service in Edwardsville, IL, and a memorial service at a SBC megachurch in Edwardsville my sister attends (she's in charge of the arrangements) with a meal following; it looks like that will be on Monday.

Both my brother and I are holding up OK right now. We're going through a lot of emotions at this moment. While we knew this was coming (we had seen him at Christmas and he did not look good at all), when it does happen, you're never *really* ready for it.

I want to thank everyone here, especially my friends, for their love and support. It's not going to be easy for the next few days, no doubt, and I'm sure it's going to be tough. But we do have a good support system in place, so we'll have plenty of folks to lean on when things get difficult.

I'll keep everyone posted as developments warrant. Take care everyone...

Views: 127

Comment by Brent Feeney on January 18, 2013 at 8:28am

Thank you Joan. =)  Really appreciate it. As far as stuff I learned, I'll get back to you on that after I have a chance to think about it. Thanks for asking though. Hope you're doing well.

Comment by Brent Feeney on January 18, 2013 at 8:29am

Thanks Randall. =)  You're right, it's the great inevitable. As the great social philosopher Bugs Bunny once said: "The one thing about life is - you'll never get out of it alive!"

Comment by Brent Feeney on January 18, 2013 at 8:32am

Thanks Loren. =)  It's tough, no question, knowing it's coming, but trying to figure out when and where it'll happen is difficult at best. Don't worry about me, I'll be fine. I hope you're doing well too.

Comment by Brent Feeney on January 18, 2013 at 9:47am

Update: A memorial service will be held at 11 am Central Monday at Metro Community Church, Edwardsville, IL. Memorials may be made to the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research (http://www.michaeljfox.org) or to 3littlebirds4life (http://www3littlebirds4life.org)

Comment by Joan Denoo on January 18, 2013 at 2:55pm

Loren, I need a definition on "down". As in "I'm very much down with what Joan mentions."

I found the only peace I could get about my dad was to concentrate on the good things I learned from him and the good times. I will never forgive him; I can set those bad memories aside. 

Comment by Brent Feeney on January 18, 2013 at 6:18pm

My brother and I went to see him today at the funeral home that's handling the arrangements. He looked very peaceful and I'm glad he is no longer suffering the effects of the Parkinson's that he had.

It was the kind of closure that we really needed. I got a little teary-eyed but held it together fortunately. I'm glad we got to see him before he's cremated sometime next week.

Thanks to everyone for their kind words and wishes. It's still going to be a bit tough the next few days, but I'm sure everything will turn out all right. Hope you're all doing well today.

Comment by Steph S. on January 18, 2013 at 6:23pm

Well if you need anything I am just an email away. I'm thinking of you.

Comment by Brent Feeney on January 18, 2013 at 10:16pm

Thanks very much Steph. =) 

Comment by Sentient Biped on January 18, 2013 at 10:30pm

Brent, I've watched with appreciation for your difficult time.  You have my sympathy, and empathy, as well.  

If you want, you can post memories or obituary on Cycle of Life as well. It's a way to remember and share.

Peace to you and your family.  You took good care of your dad.  You did good.

Comment by Brent Feeney on January 21, 2013 at 3:34pm

Thanks Sentient. =) Very much appreciated. It wasn't an easy time, but we all did what we could. I'm glad he's not suffering anymore. The memorial service was today and it went very well. I'm sure there will be a few rough patches every so often, but I'll be all right no matter what.

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